


Happy Life

by AsWeAreNow



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Human AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28751688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsWeAreNow/pseuds/AsWeAreNow
Summary: Arthur and Francis are on the trajectory to live the happiest of lives. Just for the night.
Relationships: England/France (Hetalia)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Happy Life

The moonlight beams down on everything, bounces off the shiny plastic and metal of the carnival rides. It mixes with the vendors’ lights, contorting shadows, making a monster of everyone. It makes a mockery of them, but it is fine. 

Arthur and Francis sit at a table, splitting a funnel cake. It’s too oily, too obviously sweet, but it is fine. 

The carousel spins in front of them. Children, real children, laugh as they are driven slowly, up, down and clockwise. The parents that love them look just as happy, and it is fine that they are happy. It is good. 

“Francis—,” Arthur begins.

Francis cuts him off quickly. “We should go on the carousel. It’ll be nice.”

Their lives begin tonight, don’t they? At the very least, Francis’s does. Francis had always thought that youthful love was brilliant, that surely there was nothing better than puppy love. How passionate. How beautiful love is when it hasn’t aged. And yet they are both in their twenties; Francis can’t help thinking that he wishes he could have started his life sooner, that he wishes he could have gotten more of this intoxicating, perhaps cheapened love. In school there hadn’t been many opportunities to meet other men that were attracted to men. Francis is starting this life, this love, at the very end. And there will never be anything else.

“Yes, sure. That sounds lovely,” Arthur agrees.

They finish the funnel cake and wait in line. Francis pulls out his phone, his headphones.  
“I want you to listen to something.” He quickly pulls up a song, hits play.

Trumpets. A piano. What Francis assumes to be a violin. And the most haunting lyrics. It is the most beautiful song Francis knows. 

They listen to it in silence. Usually they might quarrel; today things are quiet. They are on a date, and Arthur seems to have this idea that one shouldn’t be rude to a romantic interest. They haven’t fought yet. Francis is glad for this; it is the last day they have together. 

They are still listening to the song as they climb into a plastic carriage. This is when everything hits Francis. The details of the carousel. The clear night. The music they are still sharing. All of Francis’s life has been so beautiful, almost film like. He has seen some of the most awe-inspiring feats of architecture in the world. He has been to Vienna, to Paris, to New York, to Istanbul. But above all what hits him is the beauty of the man he is sharing the carriage with. The green eyes, the hair. The hands. And above all, the history between them. Stretching far, far, far.

And things are never going to be the same.

Francis wipes his eyes; he cannot start crying on a carousel, no matter how the beauty overwhelms him. Instead he grabs Arthur’s hand and brings it to his lips. Francis isn’t too certain if this is alright, given the settings. He supposes that the gesture will only matter if they’re beaten for it later. 

Arthur leans into him, seemingly unobservant of the shadows and the moonlight and the people around them. Or maybe he is also choosing to ignore it, the same way Francis is. Either way, it all goes unnoticed in favor of this carousel ride.

Francis has considered the term ‘aromantic’, but this would not be proper. He is the most romantic person he knows. And yet he can’t fall in love with anyone, not really. It isn’t that he doesn’t love Arthur; it is merely that he is telling himself to.

The smallest reason Francis cannot love? He is gay. Obviously this is a non-issue; obviously it is not really an obstacle at the moment. Things are better than they have been— not perfect, but better.

The largest reason? Francis can only convince himself to love someone for so long. This moment is surreal; it is one of a million he has dreamed of. But he cannot imagine having another moment like this with Arthur. Francis loves the idea of love, of companionship, but he hates the commitment. Perhaps it is self hatred; perhaps he can only imagine petty heartbreak and guilt, and he cannot imagine a loving future. Or perhaps Francis simply prefers temporary camaraderie to actual love. 

But he does not tell Arthur this, not tonight. Because with the way things are going tonight, they are happy. Because with the way things are going tonight, everything is fine.

**Author's Note:**

> A comment would be wonderful. Thanks for reading; have a wonderful day and stay safe.


End file.
